The Hostage Situation
by White-Tigers-of-Darkness
Summary: Jason wants to prove a point. Dick is just being the hostage from hell. The first meeting between Robin and the Red Hood is going to be anything but normal. Part of my Outlaw verse.


Once again proof that I can be worked to write a story based off someone elses suggestion. This one is for Yuna's Reincarnation-1 who asked for a more detailed look into the first meeting between Dick Grayson and Jason Todd, as mentioned in The New Outlaw. So I went and re-read those few sentences I made in passing and produced this. Unfortunatly, and I apologise for this Yuna, I couldn't work Batman's feelings into it. For some reason the Dark Knight and I appear to no longer be on speaking terms. I think it is because I keep letting his kids hang out with the Red Hood.

Disclaimer: I don't own. Trust me on this.

* * *

Dim light filtered from outside, the street lights illuminating the open room.

The young hero was silent, unconscious from the chloroform rag which his attacker had pressed to his face. Ropes held him tightly against the chair, stopping any movement should the boy awake. Dark hair covered part of the boy's face, hiding it from view.

Before him, another figure sat, watching the boy with interest. The figure was leaning forward, one elbow resting on a knee, a gun held in his other hand. The figure took a deep breath, held it for a few seconds before releasing it. He continued this action, the motion becoming soothing. The figures white fringe moved slightly, bouncing on his forehead as he sighed and stretched.

Slowly, the figure rose to his feet, shoving the gun back in its holster on his hip. Turning his back on the kid, the figure took a few steps before turning around. He stepped close, towering over his prisoner. Reaching forward, the figure took a handful of dark hair and pulled the kids head back. Quickly, he scanned the boy's face. There wasn't much to see, a spiked domino mask covering most of the boy's face. But if the figure had to guess, he would say the kid was no older than 10 years old. Still a baby.

The figure sneered and let go of the boy's hair, watching as the unconscious boy sagged slightly in his restraints.

Turning once again, the figure passed the deserted decks littering the room to reach the window. In the distance, a floodlight was shining, sending a yellow beam of light into the air. It was only visible when a cloud passed by, but the bright circle of light had a strange black shadow in the middle. The shadow almost looked like a bat.

The figure grinned.

"Come and get me Batman." The figure muttered.

A groan echoed through the room. The figure turned. His captive was awake.

The boy groaned again, slowly raising his head. He looked around in a daze, trying to piece together the situation.

"Well, look who's finally awake." The figure moved to the boy's line of sight. The kid looked at him, his face going blank as the kid masked his fear. Not bad. Not bad for a young hero. A pity it was pointless.

The figure stepped even closer, letting the kid see his smile. It wasn't a nice smile.

"Look at you. The new Bat….Brat."

The figure grabbed his chair, turning it so the back was facing his hostage before sitting down, crossing his arms over the back.

"How old are you? 8?" He asked ironically.

The kid glared, an impressive feat given the mask still on his face. Or maybe not if you knew who the kids teacher was.

"10." The kid replied.

The figure laughed.

"Still just a baby, aren't you, little bird?" He asked.

"I'm not a baby." The kid shot back.

"Yeah, you are. A baby soldier, fighting a war simply because daddy said so."

The figure stood up, turning his back on the kid.

"I'm sorry kid, but I'm going to kill you. Batman has to see the consequences of his actions." The figure continued. "He has to see that he can't keep doing this." He added softly.

The kid was silent, looking down at the ground.

"You're Jason Todd, aren't you?" The kid finally asked.

Jason turned around, only just managing to hide his shock. Then he remembered who the kid's teacher was. He mentally cursed.

"He told me about you. About how he failed you." The kid continued.

Jason snorted, not believing his ears.

"He failed me? Of course he failed me. He left me in the hands of a psychopath to be slowly tortured to death and then let that murdering streak of puss live to this day."

Jason rounded on the kid, his voice raising.

"I wasn't dead six months and he already replaced me! And then, when I gave him the chance to fix his mistake, to set everything right, he called me the villain! He called me the criminal! I WORKED HARD TO CLEAR UP GOTHAM! TO DO WHAT HE COULDN'T!"

The kid lent back in his chair, cringing at the sudden volume of Jason's voice.

"I take it you're not traught." The kid replied softly.

Jason took a deep breath, trying to reign in his anger. He blinked under his red mask. Did the kid just?

"Tranght?" He finally asked. "Did you just say traught?"

The kid shrugged as much as he could in his restraints.'

"Traught. Opposite of distraught."

Jason blinked again, anger seeping away, making room for the curiosity.

"You're a weird kid Dickie-bird." He said, slowly sitting down once again.

The kid stared at him, this time unable to hide his shock. Jason shook his head.

"And yes kid, I may have been dead, but I do get the news. I know all about how Bruce Wayne took in circus acrobat called Dick Grayson. The media couldn't shut up about it."

Dick slowly nodded. Jason wasn't lying about that last bit at least. The media had gone nuts when Bruce had taken in Dick, the sudden adoption a surprised after the tragic death of Bruce's first son.

Jason was silent, contemplating everything.

"Wow. You are disturbed." Dick commented softly.

That triggered a fresh wave of anger. As if to prove the kids point, Jason jumped up, pulling out his gun and holding it to Dick's head.

"Do you want to die kid?" He questioned. "Keep talking and I will shoot you. I was going to wait for Bats to get here but so help me, finding you already dead still works for me."

Dick was silent for a few minutes, head down to look at the floor, seemingly taking Jason's words to heart. Then he raised his head.

"So you are not disturbed?" He asked.

For a second, Jason contemplated squeezing the trigger before sighing. He lowered the gun.

"No kid, I'm not disturbed. Just disappointed."

There was another pause. Jason could almost feel Dick's mind working. He may have only known the kid for a few minutes, but he could already sense bad things were going to happen.

"If 'Like' is the opposite of 'Dislike', what is the opposite of Disappointed? Appointed? No, that doesn't work. Pointed?"

"Kid, let me lay down some ground rules here. I do plan to kill you at some point. But if you insist on butchering the English language, I will take you to the roof, right now, and throw you off. And I promise it will be a messy death."

Jason waited for Dick to realise his situation, to understand just how much danger he was in. Instead, the kid was laughing, a low, creepy laugh which serial killers would be jealous of.

"Alright, why are you laughing? You should be taking this seriously." He asked.

Dick drew a shaky breath.

"I'm 10." He giggled. "And I'm being threatened by a 16 year old. Sorry if I can't take the situation seriously."

Jason fought back a snort of laughter. Dick was right. It was odd, now that he had time to think about it.

Under his mask, the teenager blinked. What was he doing? His plan had been so simple. Prove to Bruce that he couldn't keep putting kids in danger by letting the Dark Knight suffer through the loss of another child. He wasn't supposed to get attached to the kid, even if he was technically his little brother. He wasn't supposed to be second guessing himself like this. Slowly, he lowered himself onto his chair.

Dick sighed, looking around the room.

"I'm bored. Do you wanna play Simon Says?" He asked.

"No." Jason replied, raising a hand to rub the bridge of his nose. God this kid was giving him a headache. Totally a hostage from hell.

"I Spy?" The kid suggested.

"No."

"Hangman?"

"NO!"

"Well what do you want to do?" Dick asked, once again looking at Jason.

Jason thought for a moment.

"How about we play a game where you keep silent for the rest of the night?"

Dick shrugged as much as he could.

"Batman always tries to get me to play that game." He commented.

"Yeah…me too." Jason replied. "Or telling me to get my feet of the car seats."

"Or to stop sliding down the banister in the main hall." Dick added.

"Or to stop sneaking into the kitchen and stealing Alfred's cookies before he could get to them." Jason continued.

"Or to stop swinging on the chandelier."

"Or climbing on the roof!" Jason concluded.

Dick laughed again, this time a light hearted laugh as his face lit up. Jason found himself joining the boy, laughing at the memories of a happier time, long before he had died. Back when he honestly believed that Bruce would always be there to protect him. When he still believed that nothing would ever happen to him.

Finally the two stopped to regain their breath.

"You know Jay, I've never had a big brother before." Dick said. "You're kind of cool."

It was an offhanded comment but still, Jason found his eyes widening under his mask. Big brother….he was a big brother….wait, Dick thought he was cool? Ok, the kid was clearly wrong in the head.

Dick was smiling at him as if everything was normal, as if the teen he had just dubbed a big brother hadn't been holding a gun to his head minutes before. As if the 10 year old hadn't been drugged and dragged across Gotham with the sole purpose of being executed the moment his mentor found him. Damn, the kid had guts.

"Well, I've never had a little brother before. You're kind of annoying." Jason replied, mentally still admiring Dick's attitude.

Dick face reddened at those words, the kid seemingly pleased at being given the label 'little brother'

Leaning forward in his chair, Jason decided that while he had the time, he was going to learn everything he could about this young hero.

If, an hour later when Batman barged into his secret hiding spot to rescue Dick, Jason failed to follow his plan and kill the kid, well then, Dick clearly just got lucky.

If, later that night, after escaping the wrath of the Bat, Jason found himself buying a dictionary, then clearly he was just feeling like it.

If he found himself wrapping the book up and sneaking to the Manor, placing the book on the doorstep with his brother's name, then clearly he just wanted the kid to finally learn proper English and stop making up stupid words.

If, one rainy night Dick chose to seek Jason out, to go to him and reject all his other allies, then clearly the kid had guts of steel and a slight death wish.

If, several times over the next few years Jason found himself looking through the newspapers, searching for any mention of Gotham's dynamic duo, or even the solo hero known as Robin, the Boy Wonder, then it was simply professional curiosity.

If, over the years Jason became a silent guardian for his little brother, then clearly Dick Grayson had the most dedicated (and deadly) guardian angel imaginable.

And if, many years after their first meeting, Dick Grayson and Jason Todd used their brotherly bond to save each other's lives, well, that's another story.

* * *

Yes, the last line is a nod to the sequel. Looking forward to that. Which means...

I am almost finished playing with these Outlaw verse one-shots. By which I really mean the plot line for the sequel is almost fully developed. But I may still take suggestions for a ficlet. No promises that I will complete them, but I will try.

And finally, I wanted to have some sort of cover which links all my Outlaw verse stories together. But since I have absolutly no talent for drawing or photoshop, I am hoping someone else would take up the challenge. Anyone interested in giving it a go? Or should I talk to the original artist who inspired 'The New Outlaw'?


End file.
